Reaction time

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changes with age

There is relatively clear evidence that, with advancing age, individuals show a tendency toward decreasing speed of response. This is a gradual change occurring across the entire life span that shows up in a variety of so-called speeded tasks (those in which errors would be unlikely if the individual had an unlimited amount of time to complete the tasks). For example, reaction time tests (which...

psychomotor learning

...rapidly during the early stages of reinforced practice, the average rate of gain tending to drop off as the number of trials or training time increases (Figure 1). Curves based on such measures as reaction time or errors reflect the learner’s improvement by a series of decreasing scores, giving an inverted picture of Figure 1. Tracking scores from the two sexes are seen in Figure 1. Other...

sensorimotor skills

...of integrated components; however, these complex skills may be analyzed by examining their component parts. For example, skills may be measured by time intervals. In the laboratory, a subject’s reaction time is measured as the time between the presentation of some kind of stimulus and the performer’s initial response. The individual’s speed of reaction depends upon a number of variables,...

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